Elderly Maronites living in limbo

AGEING Maronites are living in a “deplorable” limbo and a 17month-old drive to allow them to return to their pre-1974 homes in the north-west of the TRNC should be “finalised as soon as possible”, senior politicans have urged.

Presidential undersecretary Gürdal Hüdaoğlu revealed last Friday that Mustafa Akıncı had written to the government asking that the process of reporting on infrastructure be expedited.

A high-level meeting with army chiefs at the Presidency on July 26, 2017 had agreed that the Maronite villages of Gürpınar, Karpaşa and Özhan would be readied for resettlement, and Mr Hüdaoğlu said Mr Akıncı now “wanted the planned works to be completed”.

He added that all relevant ministries had been notified of the estimated 820,891TL cost of surveys and project analysis, but that the prime minister and finance minister had said financial pressures meant they would be unable to allocate the necessary funding in the current budget.

However he pointed out that Finance Minister Serdar Denktaş had said, during a parliamentary session on November 14, 2017, that the necessary resources could be found if a project was submitted.

Mr Denktaş responded sharply on TV on Monday, saying the “political decision” had been taken by the Presidency but now it was a matter for the government, and Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman would take it up with Mr Akıncı.

“The president may indeed, as the head of state, wish to look at everything and become involved, but this is an issue for the executive. The president is not part of the executive,” he commented.

Mertkan Hamit, of the bicommunal Mağusa Initiative lobby group, described the Maronite community as “an important element of the multicommunal nature of the island” and “saluted” their “long struggle . . . to return to their lands, from which they were forcefully separated for many years”.

He said: “We understand . . . that the government has not managed to take the necessary steps in the time that has passed. We want the political will to be shown immediately. The Maronite Cypriots are an ageing population and are fighting against time.”

Ruling Republican Turkish Party MP Asım Akansoy said in Parliament on Tuesday the Maronites’ situation was “deplorable” and there had been “no development whatsoever” over their planned return to the TRNC.

“Maronites are living with blue ID cards and are excluded from many rights. Why is this issue not being addressed?” he asked.